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Simona Halep has been one of the brightest stars of the WTA tour in the last year, her emergence to the world number 3 spot impressing fellow players, fans and journalists worldwide. As a Romanian tennis fan, naturally I witnessed her steady improvement and her brilliant Roland Garros final against Sharapova, where she put on a fantastic performance despite losing in 3 tight sets. Simona can mix it up with the best at any time when it comes to movement or mental strength, and of course she has that sweet and effective two handed backhand, but what are the weaknesses she needs to work on in order to be a regular contender on the big stage?

1. Second serve

There`s no doubt that the second serve is Halep’s biggest weakness and every time she will meet a power-hitting, offensive player she will be attacked when her first ball does not find the court. In the Roland Garros final against Sharapova, Halep barely won 30% of her second serves and was always forced to the defensive by the Russian’s heavy returns – a scenario which has repeated time and time again over the course of her career. Halep has to learn and master the kick serve, as her height does not allow her to implement much more power on the second serve.

2. Versatility

Shortly: net play, drop shots, slice – she needs these. While Simona Halep’s reactive brand of tennis is effective and relatively interesting to watch, versatility is a big problem for her and she can rarely come up with anything else than solid baseline play. The Romanian’s volley is non-existent and every time she is forced to the net she seems (and is) uncomfortable. This is by far the poorest part of Simona`s game but, luckily for her, in today`s tennis net play has lost its importance. Nevertheless, this aspect of her game needs to be improved to at least a decent level and she will need it on the faster surfaces. She also has to improve her drop shots, a shot she has yet to master and that lost her a lot of points over the course of Roland Garros, as well as the backhand slice, a crucial defensive shot that she barely uses – and when she does, it is not effective.

3. First serve

Halep does not have a bad first serve, especially considering her height, but it could be better. The power is Ok, but more spin and kick would help. Most importantly, considering her issues with the second serve, she badly needs a higher percentage on the first ball, somewhere close to or over 70% as opposed to the 60% (or even less) she is producing at the moment.

4. Forehand

This might be a stretch, as her forehand is actually very good, but Halep herself stated that she needs to improve this shot, especially her cross-court angles. While she can hit the forehand very well, the shot does seem to betray here when she needs it the most, so a little bit more consistency combined with some small adjustments would do her very well. However, it would seem strange to me if she decides to work on this shot before sorting out her more pressing weaknesses.

I would not back the Romanian to do damage on fast surfaces, on the big stage, until she corrects at least some of these flaws. Simona Halep surely has the game and the potential to fight for major trophies and even the World Number 1 spot could be in her sight in the coming years – still, she will need a couple of improvements if she is to be a perennial contender for Grand Slams as opposed to a circumstantial challenger. If she will be able to do it, only time will tell.